Olivia Adkins: We want to start off by thanking God, our friends, families, teachers and support systems for getting us here today, for the opportunities you have given us and for the encouragement each and every day for as long as we can remember.

Standing here, giving this speech, wouldn’t have been possible without any of you.

Hanna Milham: Well, this year was a fun one! We know that everyone is facing and has faced challenges caused by the global pandemic over the last year and a half, so we don’t want to talk about it too much.

But we do want to say how proud we are to still be standing here today and having persevered through this difficult time. We truly believe that we are closer as a class because of it, and we know that this experience will help us take on future challenges that come our way.

Rylie Hirschey: I would like to give you a better glimpse of our class and who we are. Most of us have been together in the same classrooms and hallways since we were in preschool, but the ones who joined at a different point along the way are just as important to us today.

It has been a joy and privilege to be surrounded by such a close-knit group of seniors and to call everyone sitting in front of me, our classmates. Over the years, we have been given countless opportunities to have fun and make memories. In and out of the classroom, there has never been a dull moment.

Adkins: As the class of 2021, we have shared some good times. One moment that we will never forget was eighth-grade year in Mrs. Danielowski’s class. Our desks were in a circle, and as we were reading aloud, Jarred was skipping around. Rylee, thinking how funny it would be to see Jarred take a tumble, decided to stick out her foot.

Jarred proceeded to faceplant into the ground.

Despite Mrs. Danielowski’s disappointment about the whole situation, and Rylee getting a stern talking to, this moment managed to give us a great laugh ... thanks Jarred.

And that is another thing that I will tell you about our class - we never pass up a good laugh. Of course, we can’t forget when Evan blew up his phone in Mr. Brink’s class. Needless to say, the whole hallway had to be evacuated, and the teachers were not impressed, but we all appreciated the laugh, or maybe just the fact that we got out of class.

Nicole, who decided she couldn’t pass up a dare, pulled the fire alarm. She claimed it was an accident. And, of course, we can’t forget our amazing eighth-grade production of "The Diary of Anne Frank." If you weren’t there, you definitely missed out. *High quality production.

Moments like these are what we will remember about high school. Let’s be honest, most of us won’t remember how to find the derivative of a function - sorry, Mr. Demars - or how to format an APA paper - cough, cough, Mrs. Lindholm - but we will remember and cherish all of these times with each other.

Milham: While we were writing this speech, we realized that in addition to remembering funny moments over the years, we also learned a lot from our classmates.

For example, Trevor, despite recurring visits to the office and lots of time spent in the hallway with Mr. Mongan, you have taught us how to have fun and to stay loose.

Tyler and Mindie, your friendliness to others each and every day has been a blessing and you always brighten our day. You have shown us that every smile matters.

Gracie and Nolan, you are prime examples of the true meaning of full send or no send. We hope you have a blast in Hawaii and Arizona in the fall.

Kyosuke and Champ, you have experienced firsthand that there is no shame in racing for what we love, whether we win or lose in the end.

Emma and Alayna, your carefree attitudes have helped us remember not to worry about the opinions of others.

Evan and Kade, your hard work outside of the classroom setting is admirable and gives us motivation to work hard at what we decide to pursue in our lives.

To our classmates not mentioned, know that you all have a huge impact on our lives as well, but we are also on a time limit and listing something about each of you might take just slightly too long.

Hirschey: One common phrase you hear repeated super often is, “You learn something new every day." After my high school experience, I don’t know if I could say that’s true. But I do know I learned something important from all of the teachers and I want to share some of those with you.

Mr. Johnson, you taught us how to work hard for our goals, or your goals, of winning the fourth-grade tug of war.

Madame and Mrs. Lindholm, your kindness and caring attitude towards all of your students has made high school 10 times better and we will strive to share that kindness as we go through life.

Ms. Arneson, you have taught us that being a teacher’s pet is really worth it. Thanks for all the Dairy Queen and for letting us take so many naps - I mean, organize so many of your file cabinets.

Mrs. Toft, your energy in the classroom made us want to learn, and we hope we can take your energy with us through life, even though you probably wanted us to take away our new civics knowledge instead.

Mr. Halverson, thanks for teaching us to work hard, do our best and live up to our full potential - go Tigers, LOL.

Adkins: As we hold all of these lessons and more in our hearts, we would like to share a few more thoughts with our fellow classmates.

Life after high school will not be defined by a spot on the varsity roster, or the number of tardies received in the first hour. Our life will be what we make it, through our attitude, effort, work ethic and the relationships we build.

Our successes will no longer be great grades and honor rolls. Our successes will be achieving the dreams we’ve always had - getting that job we work so hard for, meeting new people, getting married and creating families.

All of these life experiences may seem far off, but standing here today, we are closer than we realize. Today, we understand that life really does go by as fast as people tell us. Today marks the beginning of the rest of our lives.

Milham: Thank you, Pine River-Backus High School, for our best friends, a little bit of learning :), and for helping us become the people we are today. You will forever hold a special place in our hearts and we appreciate the memories you have given us that will last a lifetime.

As we are about to close this chapter of our lives, I want to recall a powerful lesson I learned this year in my Positive Psychology class.

Mel Robbins, a lawyer, author and motivational speaker, discovered what she calls "The 5 Second Rule." Her rule says that when we have the idea of an action we need to take, there are only five seconds to follow that idea before your mind will talk you out of it, essentially deleting from our brain. This is because our brains are built to protect us and it does that by magnifying the risk of the action.

So, to my fellow classmates, in the future, do not let your brain talk you out of taking that next step to follow your dreams. Take advantage of your five-second window, be a doer in life and take risks.

Hirschey: Enjoy every moment, cherish and build relationships, work hard and always give your best self to the world each and every day, because we don’t get another shot. This is it, class of 2021. This is our chance at creating our lives, defining our own successes and achieving our dreams.

Don’t let anyone tell you you aren’t capable of your goals. You define what is possible, and your fears will be your greatest limit.

Lastly, never forget where you came from, or the class of 2021 that helped you become the person we send into the world today. Thank you.

Rylie Hirschey and Olivia Adkins are co-valedictorians and Hanna Milham is salutatorian for the Pine River-Backus High School class of 2021.